Editor’s Note: Six oral history interviews were conducted with Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D., Director of the National Weather Service, between June and October 2021. Dr. Uccellini retired from Federal service on January 2, 2022. This first interview was conducted remotely on June 28, 2021 by Gregory Romano and Mary Fairbanks on behalf of the NWS Heritage Program. 

In the late 1980s, the National Weather Service (NWS) entered into an unprecedented period of growth and transition known as the Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR) era. As the NWS began to undergo massive changes, it became clear that more help was needed to guide the agency through this transition. Some of this help came from unlikely sources ... including Dr. Louis W. Uccellini.

After receiving his Ph.D. in Meteorology from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Uccellini began his work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center in 1978. As section head for the Mesoscale Analysis and Modeling Section at Goddard’s Laboratory for Atmospheres, Dr. Uccellini’s focus was on research. His natural scientific curiosity drew him to the operational side of meteorology, and it was this inclination that led him to pursue an open position as Chief of the NWS Meteorological Operations Division (MOD) in 1989.

Dr. Uccellini stepped eagerly into his new role at NWS, despite having no operational experience. As the MAR was getting underway, it was his responsibility to help move the MOD forward by way of implementing new technologies. While this was met with some resistance, he was able to gradually push his division in the right direction. “That did not happen overnight,” he said.

Though he joined the Weather Service at a time of massive upheaval and technological overhaul, his early years as MOD Chief provided him with the tactical and strategic experience he would utilize for the rest of his career, including during his tenure as Director of the National Weather Service. 

Here are excerpts from the interview recorded in June of 2021:

On his lifelong interest in meteorology:

“As a kid interested in meteorology, I was always interested in the forecast, and why it was right, and why it was wrong, and how did they do this? I was always asking those questions.”

On making the leap from research to operations:

“There is this natural inclination that emerged or came back to me, even as I got my degrees, and as I worked at Goddard, that I started asking the questions, how does my work in research … how do we make this work [in operations]?”

On the challenges of leading the MOD into the MAR era:

“What that taught me is the power of having a vision, and having a plan that people resonate with….because it's one thing to put something down on a piece of paper. It's another thing getting it through the wickets so that you can actually execute on that plan, and get it done.”

Resources and Additional Reading

Full transcripts and audio recordings available here: https://voices.nmfs.noaa.gov/louis-w-uccellini